2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STI PPP Track/Hillclimb car
Discussion
mazdajason said:
Early on in your OP you mentio nthe nut and bolt numbers along with a picture of them for replacing the ones on the scoop. Is it just the 2 numbers that can be seen on the picture? How many of each did you need? I'm looking at replacing mine too. TIA
I think it was ten of each IIRC. There's also a plastic clip on both the left and the right I think. Mine was OK at one side but not the other, but as I hadn't known about them in advance, they weren't actually replaced.TroubledSoul said:
mazdajason said:
Early on in your OP you mentio nthe nut and bolt numbers along with a picture of them for replacing the ones on the scoop. Is it just the 2 numbers that can be seen on the picture? How many of each did you need? I'm looking at replacing mine too. TIA
I think it was ten of each IIRC. There's also a plastic clip on both the left and the right I think. Mine was OK at one side but not the other, but as I hadn't known about them in advance, they weren't actually replaced.Exploded diagrams and part numbers here: http://opposedforces.com/parts/impreza/
Well I've been busy buying parts but not got much actually done to the car itself! I have, however, added some gas struts to the bonnet and fitted a set of mudflaps all round :
The current list of parts to go on now includes:
Alloy radiator
Front mount intercooler
11mm oil pump
Kartboy short shifter
RCM timing belt guide
Fuelab FPR
Reverse bonnet scoop
Harness bar
Cobra seats and rails
Forge alloy header tank
Phenolic manifold spacers
Perrin intake hose
Perrin 3 port boost solenoid
RCM induction kit
Zero Sports induction hard pipe
Lots to do.
The current list of parts to go on now includes:
Alloy radiator
Front mount intercooler
11mm oil pump
Kartboy short shifter
RCM timing belt guide
Fuelab FPR
Reverse bonnet scoop
Harness bar
Cobra seats and rails
Forge alloy header tank
Phenolic manifold spacers
Perrin intake hose
Perrin 3 port boost solenoid
RCM induction kit
Zero Sports induction hard pipe
Lots to do.
Wow where does the time go? There's been so much happened since the last update.
The parts in the list above are all now on the car, but honestly, if I thought things were bad before, I was made to really regret modifying/meddling this time....
Starting simple, I replaced the battery with something more suitable. Although I'd prefer something smaller/lighter, many people run these and the one on it already was simply not up to the task anymore.
I then removed the cambelt and took off the old oil pump, which I suspected wasn't up to the job. Since fitting the gauges, I'd noticed the oil pressure was just too low. I guessed that the pump might be a 10mm pump, more suited to the none AVCS equipped cars, so went for an 11mm OEM replacement. What I actually found was a pattern part!:
New one:
I also fitted an uprated pressure relief valve to the new pump which makes it very similar to a massively more expensive Roger Clark oil pump. Unfortunately there was a small hiccup during this procedure:
I now own various sizes of helicoil kits.....
Next up, the Mrs put her foot down and made me remove the aircon
From this:
To this:
The next part of the build was a bit more hassle. This photo is out of sync with the timeline but it's one of the few with the manifold off:
At this point, manifold spacers were fitted, along with the alloy radiator, Fuel Pressure Regulator and the front mount intercooler. The RCM induction kit was also fitted. It was at this point things started to go wrong......
A few progress pics:
Manifold spacers:
I'll continue in the next post....
The parts in the list above are all now on the car, but honestly, if I thought things were bad before, I was made to really regret modifying/meddling this time....
Starting simple, I replaced the battery with something more suitable. Although I'd prefer something smaller/lighter, many people run these and the one on it already was simply not up to the task anymore.
I then removed the cambelt and took off the old oil pump, which I suspected wasn't up to the job. Since fitting the gauges, I'd noticed the oil pressure was just too low. I guessed that the pump might be a 10mm pump, more suited to the none AVCS equipped cars, so went for an 11mm OEM replacement. What I actually found was a pattern part!:
New one:
I also fitted an uprated pressure relief valve to the new pump which makes it very similar to a massively more expensive Roger Clark oil pump. Unfortunately there was a small hiccup during this procedure:
I now own various sizes of helicoil kits.....
Next up, the Mrs put her foot down and made me remove the aircon
From this:
To this:
The next part of the build was a bit more hassle. This photo is out of sync with the timeline but it's one of the few with the manifold off:
At this point, manifold spacers were fitted, along with the alloy radiator, Fuel Pressure Regulator and the front mount intercooler. The RCM induction kit was also fitted. It was at this point things started to go wrong......
A few progress pics:
Manifold spacers:
I'll continue in the next post....
Everything went back together but suddenly the car didn't want to run anymore. To get it to do so was a real struggle. I initially thought that the issue was purely down to the maf scaling as the induction kit was now on, but when it didn't improve with the maf unplugged, it became clear there were bigger issues.
Fault codes revealed new issues with the map sensor, the boost solenoid and something else. I also addressed a very weird wiring loom issue that had been pointed out a while ago when having the car checked over; the wiring loom plug for the front cam position sensor on the passenger side of the engine was plugged into the rear sensor and vice versa.
I swapped in a Perrin 3 port boost solenoid:
But the boost solenoid code persisted. I knew straight away at this point that there was an issue with the wiring loom. With the help of a pro who lives locally, a bit of fault finding took us through the loom, unwrapping it and tracing wires. What we found was....
This was actually encased in Tiger Seal or silicone of some sort! To be honest, at that point I'd seen enough. I made a call and the next day I was off down to Walsall to collect an untampered wiring loom from a breaker I use. Unfortunately for me, that meant I was going to be taking the inlet manifold off again!
But needs must, so I cracked on and took the intercooler pipes back off, then went through the process of removing the manifold and the old loom. I painstakingly put everything back together and.... it didn't want to start. The codes were cleared and the good news was that the map sensor and boost solenoid codes were gone, but the bad news was that the cam sensors were throwing codes now. Remember I mentioned the wiring loom being connected to them back to front earlier?
Yeah, well that led us to the ECU:
You'll see there's a label on there with writing on it. It says "PIN SWAP" and has some pin out numbers along with it! Bingo! Someone has put the engine back together on this car and they have obviously connected the wiring loom back to front on the passenger side of the engine with those cam sensor plugs being mixed up. Rather than go back and take the manifold off and put it right, thus doing the job correctly, they decided "no no, forget that. Let's just swap pins around at the ECU instead!"
The way the loom is orientated, there is an injector plug beside each cam sensor plug and the label on the ECU made no mention of any further pin swaps. As you can't have a cam sensor plugged in and then reach the opposite injector with that part of the loom, I checked the plugs for evidence of tampering. I found a damaged pin hole on one of the plugs and the pinout diagram confirmed it was one of the injectors in question. That was enough for me to go ahead and swap them. And guess what, with the MAF unplugged (still needed scaling or a mafless map) it ran perfectly! Yes!
We had booked in to do the academy day at the local hillclimb, but as the clock ran out on us, we had to use our daily instead of this car, which wasn't the end of the world but it was disappointing.
Once the hillclimb tuition day was out of the way, we got on with the mapping. But as is the story with this car, it wasn't completely straightforward! The engine was very noisy and the knock sensor was picking up noise as knock and retarding timing. My mapper listened through the cans and couldn't hear any det but we decided to leave it with a conservative amount of timing in rather than add more and have it being pulled back constantly.
I was a bit disappointed but understood the reasons for doing this. I thought the worst at the time and wondered how I would resolve it, but things started to become clearer. Firstly, the alternator was noisy. That was replaced. I also had a strange clattering noise that I was pretty baffled by. I eventually found that one of the intercooler hard pipes was touching the bolt that comes out of the end of the brake stopper. I ended up wrapping the bolt in a bit of old fuel hose and a cable tie - job done! Thirdly, the dump valve was lightly touching the top of the inlet manifold. I adjusted its position and resolved this.
Taking it out for mapping again after all this, and the engine was much better. There's something odd going on where it picks up some knock on one of the gear changes very weirdly, but other than that it's absolutely perfect. A bit more timing was added, although I think there's a tiny bit left in the locker and it goes very well indeed.
Fault codes revealed new issues with the map sensor, the boost solenoid and something else. I also addressed a very weird wiring loom issue that had been pointed out a while ago when having the car checked over; the wiring loom plug for the front cam position sensor on the passenger side of the engine was plugged into the rear sensor and vice versa.
I swapped in a Perrin 3 port boost solenoid:
But the boost solenoid code persisted. I knew straight away at this point that there was an issue with the wiring loom. With the help of a pro who lives locally, a bit of fault finding took us through the loom, unwrapping it and tracing wires. What we found was....
This was actually encased in Tiger Seal or silicone of some sort! To be honest, at that point I'd seen enough. I made a call and the next day I was off down to Walsall to collect an untampered wiring loom from a breaker I use. Unfortunately for me, that meant I was going to be taking the inlet manifold off again!
But needs must, so I cracked on and took the intercooler pipes back off, then went through the process of removing the manifold and the old loom. I painstakingly put everything back together and.... it didn't want to start. The codes were cleared and the good news was that the map sensor and boost solenoid codes were gone, but the bad news was that the cam sensors were throwing codes now. Remember I mentioned the wiring loom being connected to them back to front earlier?
Yeah, well that led us to the ECU:
You'll see there's a label on there with writing on it. It says "PIN SWAP" and has some pin out numbers along with it! Bingo! Someone has put the engine back together on this car and they have obviously connected the wiring loom back to front on the passenger side of the engine with those cam sensor plugs being mixed up. Rather than go back and take the manifold off and put it right, thus doing the job correctly, they decided "no no, forget that. Let's just swap pins around at the ECU instead!"
The way the loom is orientated, there is an injector plug beside each cam sensor plug and the label on the ECU made no mention of any further pin swaps. As you can't have a cam sensor plugged in and then reach the opposite injector with that part of the loom, I checked the plugs for evidence of tampering. I found a damaged pin hole on one of the plugs and the pinout diagram confirmed it was one of the injectors in question. That was enough for me to go ahead and swap them. And guess what, with the MAF unplugged (still needed scaling or a mafless map) it ran perfectly! Yes!
We had booked in to do the academy day at the local hillclimb, but as the clock ran out on us, we had to use our daily instead of this car, which wasn't the end of the world but it was disappointing.
Once the hillclimb tuition day was out of the way, we got on with the mapping. But as is the story with this car, it wasn't completely straightforward! The engine was very noisy and the knock sensor was picking up noise as knock and retarding timing. My mapper listened through the cans and couldn't hear any det but we decided to leave it with a conservative amount of timing in rather than add more and have it being pulled back constantly.
I was a bit disappointed but understood the reasons for doing this. I thought the worst at the time and wondered how I would resolve it, but things started to become clearer. Firstly, the alternator was noisy. That was replaced. I also had a strange clattering noise that I was pretty baffled by. I eventually found that one of the intercooler hard pipes was touching the bolt that comes out of the end of the brake stopper. I ended up wrapping the bolt in a bit of old fuel hose and a cable tie - job done! Thirdly, the dump valve was lightly touching the top of the inlet manifold. I adjusted its position and resolved this.
Taking it out for mapping again after all this, and the engine was much better. There's something odd going on where it picks up some knock on one of the gear changes very weirdly, but other than that it's absolutely perfect. A bit more timing was added, although I think there's a tiny bit left in the locker and it goes very well indeed.
Edited by TroubledSoul on Thursday 21st September 00:04
In between the two mapping sessions, I managed to fit some of the handling parts.
Front Whiteline adjustable 22mm anti roll bar:
Rear drilled brake discs and PFZ pads:
Rear Whiteline 22mm adjustable anti roll bar:
Rear tow eye, MSA spec:
Cold air intake for the induction kit:
Uprated gearbox mount and bushes:
Kartboy short shifter:
Full 3" exhaust system:
Harness bar:
I've also fitted some sliding rails and side mount Cobra Pro Series seats, but don't seem to have a photo at the moment. The best part of the whole tale though is this:
We finally made it to an actual hillclimb!! Our first ever motorsport event! I am still over the moon that we got there. We didn't pull up any trees, but it's a start. I really did enjoy it. What a day.
Time to plan ahead for next season now and in the meantime try and do some track days the rest of this year to get a bit more seat time in a track environment. There are some parts left to fit but after that it will be a bit of a switch to maintenance for a while, rather than building/modifying.
If you're still reading, thank you and well done
NB: I have been through the thread and switched the photos to imgur from Photobucket. It does seem to pull them through a lot bigger, however.
Front Whiteline adjustable 22mm anti roll bar:
Rear drilled brake discs and PFZ pads:
Rear Whiteline 22mm adjustable anti roll bar:
Rear tow eye, MSA spec:
Cold air intake for the induction kit:
Uprated gearbox mount and bushes:
Kartboy short shifter:
Full 3" exhaust system:
Harness bar:
I've also fitted some sliding rails and side mount Cobra Pro Series seats, but don't seem to have a photo at the moment. The best part of the whole tale though is this:
We finally made it to an actual hillclimb!! Our first ever motorsport event! I am still over the moon that we got there. We didn't pull up any trees, but it's a start. I really did enjoy it. What a day.
Time to plan ahead for next season now and in the meantime try and do some track days the rest of this year to get a bit more seat time in a track environment. There are some parts left to fit but after that it will be a bit of a switch to maintenance for a while, rather than building/modifying.
If you're still reading, thank you and well done
NB: I have been through the thread and switched the photos to imgur from Photobucket. It does seem to pull them through a lot bigger, however.
Edited by TroubledSoul on Thursday 21st September 00:12
You are a very brave man. I have a love for these cars, and your situation is my worse night mare. Probably because my pockets are not as deep as yours lol.
Doesn't stop me wanting to join the scooby club! Mine will only be used for shipping family about and having a few blasts. No tracks, no modding.
Doesn't stop me wanting to join the scooby club! Mine will only be used for shipping family about and having a few blasts. No tracks, no modding.
Thanks folks, it's nice to know people are reading 
As for buying a Subaru and not modding it, many people say that! It rarely lasts...
Just don't buy one like this and you'll be fine!
The hillclimb was absolutely brilliant, but it is clear we won't be competitive in our class with less than 500bhp. There's no budget for that just now, but as it will be some time before we are getting the most we can out of what we've got, it isn't too important as things stand. The main thing will be getting new tyres as the NS2-Rs are good but there are better available... There's also anti lift bushes to fit that I've already got. Little things but every little helps as they say.
As for buying a Subaru and not modding it, many people say that! It rarely lasts...
Just don't buy one like this and you'll be fine!
The hillclimb was absolutely brilliant, but it is clear we won't be competitive in our class with less than 500bhp. There's no budget for that just now, but as it will be some time before we are getting the most we can out of what we've got, it isn't too important as things stand. The main thing will be getting new tyres as the NS2-Rs are good but there are better available... There's also anti lift bushes to fit that I've already got. Little things but every little helps as they say.
Fonzey said:
Great read so far, and impressive persistence.
What a bodge-job that car has been in the past, you're doing it a real service now!
I'm certainly trying buddy. It's certainly been an eye opener. Need to do the final few jobs with it now and then just do a few autumn/winter trackdays while switching the main work focus to my E36. If you think this has been a challenge..... What a bodge-job that car has been in the past, you're doing it a real service now!
I actually find them very simple now that I know my way around them. On the other hand, I swapped out an alternator on a friend's Focus TDCI and it was a nightmare to get the thing out!
Everything is pretty easy to get to on the boxer apart from the spark plugs, and even they aren't that hard once you've done it once. It's more the moving other things out of the way to get to them part that's irritating. This is our 5th now so I've become quite adept, albeit still didn't spot this was a lemon on the day of purchase
Everything is pretty easy to get to on the boxer apart from the spark plugs, and even they aren't that hard once you've done it once. It's more the moving other things out of the way to get to them part that's irritating. This is our 5th now so I've become quite adept, albeit still didn't spot this was a lemon on the day of purchase
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